


scars make us beautiful

by louisnights



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friends to Lovers, M/M, No Smut, Photographer Harry, University Student Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 08:55:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17864303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisnights/pseuds/louisnights
Summary: Harry's model for his photo shoot drops out at the last minute, so he asks his best friend to fill in. The thing is, it's a naked photo shoot.





	scars make us beautiful

Louis gulps down the rest of his now cold tea before throwing it in the bin. He wishes he had a car, so he wouldn’t have to walk the fifteen minutes to campus every morning. 

Harry’s sitting on the sofa when he walks in, shivering from the cold. “Hey, Haz.”

“Hi, Lou,” Harry says. He’s biting at his bottom lip, hard enough that it’s almost bloody. Louis sheds his jacket, hanging it up on the hanger. He kicks off his boots and walks to join Harry on the sofa. “What’s up?”

Harry lets his head drop onto Louis’ shoulder. “You know you’re my best friend and i love you?”

Louis laughs. “Yeah. Ilove you, too. Now, what do you want?”

“I can’t just say that I love my best friend?” Harry asks, his hand on his chest in mock offence.

“Not like that,” Louis shoves him off of his shoulder. “What do you want?”

“One of my models dropped out last minute,” Harry says, this time he’s nervously chewing at his thumb nail. “Can you model for me instead?”

“You mean the nude photoshoot?” Louis asks, trying not to panic. “You want me to pose naked for your camera?”

“Yeah,” Harry shrugs. “It’s not gonna be sexual. It’s gonna be focusing on how imperfections make you beautiful. Like birthmarks, scars, stretchmarks, you get the gist.”

Louis hopes he didn’t notice the slight flinch when he mentioned the scars. Doing this could be liberating. Finally showing someone his scars, someone who’s been his best friend for his entire stint in uni. He trusts Harry, and he knows he’d never judge him for them. He takes a deep breath. “I’ll do it.”

Harry jumps up, grabbing Louis’ shoulders in excitement to drag him into a hug. “Thank you!”

Louis smiles tightly as he hugs Harry back, already kind of regretting this.

\-----

Louis is standing in front of the mirror. Naked, he’s staring at his scars. He wants to back out of this shoot so bad, but he can’t do it to Harry. He needs this, as it is 50% of his grade.It’s a requirement for his graduation. Louis needs this just as much to help with his confidence. He has to do this. It’s been three years since anyone has seen him naked. He must step out of his comfort zone.

He takes a deep, deep breath to calm his nerves. He puts on the white robe and with one last look at himself in the mirror, walks out to join Harry in the small studio that he reserved for the project. 

It looks a professional photo shoot. “This is amazing,” Louis says, looking around at the huge white sheet hung on the wall opposite all the camera equipment. Big white lights are shining brightly at the sheet.

Harry looks up from his spot where he’s looking through the pictures on his camera. “Thanks. You’re my last model, and the most gorgeous.”

Louis blushes. He plays with the strings of his rope, nervous about taking it off. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Hey, it’s just me,” Harry walks up to him to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to be nervous. I won’t judge you for anything, you might think you’re imperfect or whatever you’re so nervous about, you’re already beautiful. Nothing will change that.”

Louis doesn’t know what to say. He gathers all the strength that he has just to take the rope off. He pretends not to hear Harry’s gasp, looking down at his feet as he walks to stand in the light, the white sheet behind him. 

Harry walks towards him. Louis can see tears in his eyes. He cups Louis’ face in his hands. “What happened?”

Louis looks down at his feet. “I was in a really bad car accident a few years ago. Could’ve died, really.”

Harry runs his fingers through Louis’ hair as he hugs him. Louis lets out a humorless laugh. “I’m still naked, you know.”

Harry laughs wetly in response. “I know.” He kisses his forehead before he steps back enough to aim his camera at him. Louis turns around, showing his biggest scar. The one that’s spanning across his shoulder blades, an ugly pink gash that’s slightly raised, still. 

He feels the flash of the camera as it goes off. After that he loses track of how many poses he makes, how many pictures have been taken. He just tries to focus on the fact that his best friend isn’t disgusted by him. He bites his lip as he thinks that he would love it if Harry saw him as more than that.

Harry puts down his camera, taking hold of Louis’ robe and hands it to him. Louis feels good now that he has it back on, his scars covered. “We’re done?”

Harry nods. “Wanna go get a cup of coffee after we’ve got everything sorted in here?”

Louis bites his lip shylyas he smiles. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

\-----

Louis looks out of the window at the people passing by. He loves doing this; people watching can be calming. Making up stories about these strangers in his head. 

Harry puts down a latte in front of him, a heart made of foam on the top. Louis looks down at it, smiling before he takes a sip. Harry takes a sip of his own coffee.

“I asked them to design a heart on yours.”

Louis looks up at Harry. His curls framing his face, the light making him look softer than he normally does. It takes him a moment to register the words. “Really?”

Harry takes another sip of his drink, a soft smile on his face. “Yeah. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while.”

“Tell me what?”

Harry reaches across the table, grabbing Louis’ hand and squeezing it gently. “That I’m in love with you.”

Louis freezes. This can’t be real, can it?

He gets his hand out of Harry’s grip, taking a sip of his own coffee as he lets the words sink in. “You’re in love with me?”

Harry just nods, the soft smile still on his face, but Louis can tell he’s nervous. Can always tell when Harry’s nervous. “I love you, too.”

They share a smile. They finish their lattes in comfortable silence, and when they leave, they hold hands all the way home. 

After they’ve closed the door behind them, Louis frames Harry’s face with his hands to bring him down for a soft kiss. He feels warmth envelope him all over.


End file.
